A friend of Ramsay said yesterday that he is working with HMRC and added that the problems took place under "previous management".

Ramsay sacked Christopher Hutcheson, 63, as chief executive of of his company after discovering that the older man had raised a secret family.

After a series of bitter legal battles Mr Hutcheson reached a reported £2m settlement with Ramsay earlier this year for his 30% stake in Gordon Ramsay Holdings, the company which owns the chef's restaurants.

However yesterday it emerged that Mr Hutcheson has made an application to the Companies Court to have the business wound down over an alleged £600,000 debt. A registrar will rule on the case in January.

Ryan Carthew, Mr Hutcheson's solicitor, said: "I can confirm that it's a significant sum of money. One of the reasons Mr Hutcheson has taken this drastic step of issuing a winding up order is that he understands that there's a serious investigation into the tax affairs of Gordon Ramsay Holdings."

Mr Carthew added that HMRC had not been in contact with Mr Hutcheson and said he is "comfortable" with the situation.

Mr Ramsay's public and acrimonious feud with his father-in-law began after he discovered that Mr Hutcheson, 62, had two children withFrances Collins, his mistress

He paid for their upbringing with his six–figure salary as head of his son–in–law's global empire. He had four children with Greta, his unsuspecting wife, dividing his time and wealth between his two families.

The chef subsequently accused Mr Hutcheson of hacking into private emails and wrongfully taking £1.4m from his restaurant busniess.

Mr Hutcheson denied the claims and sued his son-in-law for unfair dismissal and unpaid wages. Tana, Mr Ramsey's wife, sided with her husband after learning her father had raised a second, secret family for 30 years.

The two men reached a settlement, reportedly worth £2m, but according to Mr Curfew some of the payment remain outstanding.

A friend of Mr Ramsay said: "There is an investigation and it's as a result of an issue that arose under previous management. We are working with HMRC."

A spokesman for Mr Ramsay said: "The winding up petition has been published maliciously and in contravention of the Court rules and which amounts to an abuse of process. There are valid reasons why the purported debt has not been paid which has nothing to do with GRH's solvency or ability to pay. Indeed, as is well known to Mr Hutcheson's and his lawyers, the whole sum in question is sitting in Mr Ramsay's solicitors' client account pending resolution."